Opinion: The Kindle will lose out if it doesn’t open up

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Amazon’s Kindle rules, but it looks last century compared with new kids in town like Barns & Noble’s Nook, Microsoft’s upcoming Courier, and even Apple’s rumored tablet. But The Kindle may lose out if Amazon doesn’t open up the gizmo to third-parties.

Amazon has confirmed the Kindle for Mac software Wednesday, the same day they quietly released a press release announcing the official Kindle for Windows app. According to Fast Company, Microsoft mentioned the Kindle app at the Windows 7 launch because it showcases multi-touch features of Windows 7 that developers like Amazon can use in their own apps. For example, the Kindle app lets Windows 7 users turn pages with a finger swipe and zoom in and out of text with a pinch of the fingers.

Both Mac and PC versions of the app feature Whispersync technology that automatically saves and synchronizes bookmarks and last page read across devices, Amazon said. The Kindle app also provides access to the entire library of previously purchased Kindle books stored on Amazon’s servers for free, in addition to the ability to purchase and download books from the Kindle Store from your desktop.

Fast Company reminded that Charlie Tritschler, director of Amazon’s Kindle program, told the Seattle Times in 2007 that Amazon might open up Kindle to third-party developers in the future by releasing the official Kindle API. This will enable developers to create programs that interface with both the Kindle hardware and the Kindle Store online. The API could pave the way for interesting third-party apps like RSS readers, Facebook and Twitter clients, etc.

On the other hand, industry watchers doubt that Amazon will open up the Kindle, saying that the company profits mroe from the closed e-book ecosystem. Apps that load Kindle with free content (like an RSS feed client) could make users buy less e-books. If you ask me, all e-book platforms will need to open up just like major labels stripped DRM off their music, allowing digital music to play across any device. Unless I’m able to buy an e-book at Amazon and transfer it easily on my Nook, I don’t see this market taking off.

Kindle’s virtual bookstore has barely started but it already offers an impressive amount of content: 360,000 books, most priced at $9.99 or less. Still, that’s peanuts compared with over a million titles available for Nook.

Users can read Kindle books purchased at the store on the Kindle, Kindle DX, iPhone, iPod touch, PC, and soon Macs. The online book retailer claims that the Kindle for iPhone app is the most popular books app in the App Store.

The release of desktop Kindle software follows a series of Kindle-related announcements over the past few weeks aimed to fend off aspirants to the e-reading crown, most notably rumored tablets from Apple and Microsoft and Barnes & Noble’s upcoming e-book reader dubbed Nook. Barnes & Noble’s device looks like it could give the Kindle a decent run for its money.

Amazon’s Kindle has enjoyed lukewarm response from customers and unanimous support from the media over the past year, but the honeymoon period is now over. With the Nook now in the picture, due in November, the Kindle gizmo suddenly looks last century, although we’ll have to wait to get our hands on Barnes & Noble’s $259 baby to draw definite parallels between the two e-readers.

Desktop Kindle readers for Mac and PC join the previously released Kindle for iPhone app, albeit a tad late. Barnes & Nobles has already beatten Amazon to the e-reader punch. The company provides e-book apps for Mac, PC, and iPhone free of charge and all versions read the same content as the Nook. What has Amazon been doing all this time? Kindle has been on the market for a long time now and they’ve only decided to release desktop apps when things got tough? It’s true what they say, there really is nothing like a healthy competition.

Speak Your Mind

dominogeek

RE: “Unless I’m able to buy an e-book at Amazon and transfer it easily on my Nook, I don’t see this market taking off.”

You are spot on. Who would want to be vendor locked when buying
ebooks? This has not been discussed enough in e-reader news items in the past year, in most of the media that I follow. If I buy an e-book from one store, I don’t want to be forced to stay with that e-reader brand continuously.

“On the other hand, industry watchers doubt that Amazon will open up the Kindle, saying that the company profits mroe from the closed e-book ecosystem. Apps that load Kindle with free content (like an RSS feed client) could make users buy less e-books.”

“Users can read Kindle books purchased at the store on the Kindle, Kindle DX, iPhone, iPod touch, PC, and soon Macs. The online book retailer claims that the Kindle for iPhone app is the most popular books app in the App Store.”

There you go. The Kindle should be opened up if it wants to survive, and besides, if I can read Kindle books on my PC, why buy a Kindle? If it’s for apps in addition to a good e-reading experience, I say yes. if it’s for a good e-reading experience, I’ll just flip on my Palm Tungsten T5.